Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Fumitaka Kikkawa

Yoichi Ito

Tomomi Katoh

Soyoung Park

Toshiroh Tokuno

Mikio Ohashi

Jun Ichinowatari

Yuji Tanaka

Akiyoshi Tanaka

Kuniyori Takano

Honriku Jo

Mitsuya Matsubara

Satoshi Endoh

Kazuki Suzuki

Yoshinori Uchino

Kunihiro Yamanaka

Nobuyuki Akaishi

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, a recording head, a maintenance unit, a cover, and a controller. The recording head has a nozzle face and nozzles in the nozzle face to eject droplets of liquid. The maintenance unit has a cap to protect the nozzle face of the recording head. The cover opens an interior of the apparatus body to an outside of the apparatus body. The controller performs a normal control to cap the nozzle face of the recording head with the cap on opening of the cover and a special control to expose the nozzle face of the recording head to an area opened by the cover on receipt of an external instruction.

Image forming apparatus configured to include nozzle face capping control

A liquid supplying device includes a liquid container detachably mountable to the container mount portion, a liquid supply channel to communicate with both the liquid container mounted in the container mount portion and a liquid supply target, a liquid feeder at a midway of the liquid supply channel to pressurize a liquid in the liquid supply channel to feed the liquid to the liquid supply target by pressurizing the liquid, a bypass channel connected to the liquid supply channel to bypass a portion of the liquid supply channel and communicate with both an upstream side and a downstream side of the liquid feeder in a liquid supply direction of the liquid supply channel, and a first valve in the bypass channel to close when the liquid container is mounted in the container mount portion and to open in response to detachment of the liquid container.

Liquid supplying device, droplet discharge device, and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit forming an image on a recording medium; and a feeding unit feeding the recording medium in first and second directions opposite to each other relative to the image forming unit. Further when the recording medium is supplied from a first or second side of the feeding unit, while the feeding unit feeds the recording medium in the first or second feeding direction, the image forming unit forms an image on the recording medium, and the feeding unit further feeds the recording medium to the second or first side, respectively, of the feeding unit.

Image forming apparatus configured for bi-directional feeding of medium

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body; an openable and closable cover provided at the apparatus body; a conveyance unit to convey a recording medium upward and downward; a recording head to eject liquid droplets to the recording medium conveyed by the conveyance unit; and an opening authorization mechanism to authorize moving of the conveyance unit from a first open position to a second open position, the conveyance unit having a greater opening amount at the second open position than at the first open position, wherein the conveyance unit is disposed between the cover and the recording head, and configured to be openable to the first open position when the cover is in the open position, and openable to the second open position when the opening authorization mechanism authorizes the moving of the conveyance unit from the first open position to the second open position.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, a liquid tank, a head tank, a liquid supply passage, a liquid supply passage, a liquid intake port, a valve member, and a lock unit. The lock unit is disposed in the head tank to lock and unlock the valve member in response to a change in pressure within the head tank. In a locked state, the valve member closes the liquid intake port in immovable state to constantly stop flow of the liquid into the head tank. In an unlocked state, the valve member is movable to open and close the liquid intake port in response to a change in pressure within the head tank to regulate the flow of the liquid into the head tank.

Image forming apparatus including recording head for ejecting liquid droplets

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus including a recording head; a cap member capping the nozzle surface of the recording head and including a release port and a suction port; a suction unit in communication with the suction port; a switch unit opening and closing the release port to the air and capable of adjusting the opening amount of the release port to at least a first opening amount and a second opening amount larger than the first opening amount; and a control unit that controls the suction unit and the switch unit so that the release port is opened to the first opening amount to have a predetermined amount of air flow into the cap member after the cap member is suctioned by the suction unit, and the release port is then opened to the second opening amount.

In an image forming apparatus ejecting droplets of a liquid, a valve unit is provided to connect a liquid tank with a discharge flow path connecting the valve unit with a waste liquid tank. The valve unit has a first valve having a communication path, a spring biasing the first valve to open, a valve sheet, and a second valve to open or close the discharge flow path in conjunction with movement of the first valve. When a discharging device is not driven, the first valve maintains an open state while the second valve maintains a close state. When the discharging device is driven, the second valve achieves an open state and air flows through the communication path. When the liquid flows through the communication path, the first valve is moved to achieve a closed state while the second valve maintains the open state, thereby closing the discharge flow path.

An image forming apparatus includes a recording head configured to have a nozzle face on which nozzles that discharge liquid droplets are formed; a cap configured to cap the nozzle face of the recording head; a discharge path configured to be connected to the cap; a suction pump configured to be provided in the discharge path and be made of a tube pump; and an atmosphere opening part configured to open an airtight space, created when the nozzle face is capped by the cap, to the atmosphere. The atmosphere opening part is configured to communicate with the inside of the cap at a position higher than a surface of liquid discharged into the cap, and a check valve configured to prevent a flow of the liquid toward the cap from the suction pump is provided in the discharge path.

Image forming apparatus, method of suctioning liquid from nozzles of recording head and computer readable information recording medium

An image forming apparatus includes a first path through which liquid is supplied to a recording head; a second path connected to a liquid tank; a pressure-adjustment valve connecting the first path with the second path, wherein resistance inside the pressure-adjustment valve changes according to a flow rate of the liquid flowing through the first path; a third path connecting the second path with the pressure-adjustment valve, wherein the third path includes a pump; a fourth path that connects the recording head with the liquid tank and bypasses the pressure-adjustment valve; and an opening/closing valve that opens/closes the fourth path. When an environmental temperature exceeds a threshold, liquid is supplied to the recording head by operating the pump and opening the fourth path. When the environmental temperature is less than the threshold, liquid is supplied to the recording head by operating the pump and closing the fourth path.

An image forming apparatus is disclosed that includes the pressure adjusting valve including a movable member movably disposed in the pressure adjusting valve, a first throttling part; and a second throttling part, wherein the second throttling part is formed as a gap between an internal wall of the frame of the pressure adjusting valve and the movable member, an internal fluid resistance of the pressure adjusting valve varies in response to the flow rate of the liquid, and when the liquid is discharged from the nozzle, the liquid is fed from the liquid tank to the recording head by the liquid feeding unit in a state where the recording head is in fluid communication with the liquid tank via the pressure adjusting valve.

An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, a liquid tank, a first fluid flow path supplying liquid to the recording head, a second fluid flow path being in communication with the liquid tank, a pressure adjusting valve allowing fluid communication between the first and the second fluid flow paths, a cap member covering a nozzle surface of the recording head, and a suction unit being in communication with the cap member. The pressure adjusting valve includes a movable member movably disposed in the internal fluid flow path, wherein the movable member includes a sealing unit that seals the communication between the first and the second fluid flow paths when the cap member covers the nozzle surface of the recording head and a negative pressure is generated in a cap-member space formed between the cap member and the nozzle surface by driving the suction unit.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Fumitaka Kikkawa